Sustainable Development Goals In The Asian Context

This book presents research that focuses on Sustainable Development in Asia. Chapters are extended works of papers presented at Communication/Culture and The Sustainable Development Goals (CCSDG): Challenges for a New Generation, an international conference held in Chiang Mai University in December 2015. The chapters address assessments of Millennium Development Goals in several Asian countries and the region as a whole. The book also identifies and discusses the changes and potential improvements in the transition from Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) to Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030). Areas that are covered in the book, which are illustrated with case studies, include Corporate Social Accountability, Information and Communications Technologies, and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The book serves as a useful resource for academics, scholars, students, and policymakers, interested in Development Studies.

This book assesses the roadmap for the implementation of the SDGs in South Asia, focusing in particular on the areas of poverty reduction, inequality, health/well-being and water and sanitation. South Asia is amongst the fastest growing regions in the world, with an aggregate GDP in excess of two trillion US dollars, but at the same time it has significant deficits in human development, with 37 per cent of the world's poor and nearly half of the world's malnourished children. For South Asia, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a constructive opportunity to end many of the region's deprivations in a time-bound and systematic manner. Starting with the legacy of the Millennium Development Goals, the book goes on to provide a country-by-country overview of strategies for addressing the problems of poverty, health, water and sanitation. South-South Cooperation and in particular the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are discussed and, finally, the editors present a summary of policy priorities for social development. This book aims to be a useful resource for researchers, policy influencers, planners, implementers, students, and activists aiming to push to achieve the SDGs.

This volume studies the governance and implementation of the sustainable development goals in Southeast Asia, in particular the difficulties in the shift from the international to the national, the multi-level challenges of implementation, and the involvement of stakeholders, civil society, and citizens in the process.

Global progress on the Sustainable Development Goals will depend to a large extent on the collective action of South Asia to implement them. The sub-region indeed accounts for almost one fourth of the world's population, 36 per cent of the world's poor and nearly half of the world's malnourished children. The sub-region's success in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, however, hinges on addressing current capacity gaps and strengthening the means of implementation. Recognizing the host of challenges faced by the sub-region, UNESCAP has attempted in the present Report, to unpack the 2030 Agenda at the sub-regional level, outlining tangible, high priority and relevant policy actions that are critical to achieve sustainable development in South Asia. The Report identifies seven key priorities that can help accelerate the SDG achievement in South Asia by leveraging the relationships between the Goals. Based on rigorous policy simulations and evidence, it offers insight into ways a regionally coordinated sustainable industrialization strategy could generate more than 56 million new jobs by 2030 in South Asia, and lift 71 million additional people out of poverty, relative to a business-as-usual scenario. It is hoped that this Report will be useful for analysts and practitioners of development policy in the sub-region and beyond, in stimulating a debate on the ways and means of bringing sustainable prosperity to all in the dynamic and population subregion of South Asia.

This publication highlights challenges and priorities of the East and North-East Asia subregion (ENEA) in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Subregion comprises China, Japan, Mongolia, the two Koreas and Russia. It highlights the priority areas for ENEA as poverty reduction and safeguarding basic needs; enhancing energy efficiency and optimizing energy structure; addressing climate change; increasing resilience to disasters; enhancing resource efficiency; ecological innovation for growth; integrating population ageing in national development priorities, and development assistance. Statistical tables and graphs of the latest data of SDG indicators are provided.

This book assesses the progress in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in ASEAN, India and China using the above framework conditions in the context with three main propositions. First, translating the SDGs into regional economic integration strategies during the pandemic recovery can enhance the link between global objectives and the multifaceted reality of an ASEAN community building process, and providing a strategic option to strengthen the regional approaches. Secondly, a regional approach on complementarities to SDGs can facilitate the definition of relevant targets/indicators and enhance the monitoring and evaluation framework. In so doing it could also offer the scope to integrate more closely ASEAN community’s social and environmental concerns into existing economic, social and political frameworks. Thirdly, focusing just on the geo-economic sphere – the area where south east and East Asian economic integration is relatively more advanced – will prove the hypothesis that effective regional integration through mega trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) can support the Asia’s transformation agenda and foster more inclusive and sustainable growth.

This book examines the key Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) relating to environmental sustainability and provides a cutting-edge assessment of current progress with the view of achieving these goals by 2030. Within South Asia, the book pays particular attention to Bangladesh, as a country representative of emerging economies which are struggling to meet their goals. Drawing on the three pillars of sustainability, the volume addresses the following goals: Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water and Life on Land (Goals 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 and 15). The book examines where progress has been made and why some key targets have not been achieved or will be difficult to achieve. The chapters focus on environmental sustainability in different sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, fisheries and aquaculture and natural resource management. The aim of this volume is to highlight key lessons and recommendations on how research in the various sectors can feed into the pathway of meeting the SDGs highlighted in this book. The analysis derived from Bangladesh can be used as a reference point for other developing nations in Asia, and globally, with a view to guiding policy for the achievement of the SGDs. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable development and climate change, as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in sustainable development and disaster management.